When Night Falls
by Cianna Greenwood
Summary: Lying amid a cyclone of Chaos and Destiny, Ranma Saotome and Akane Tendo must come together and fight or be destroyed. And in this fight, vampires, witches and werewolves are real, waiting in the shadows, stalking them awaiting the day that one of them st
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Obviously I own none of Ranma 1/2 , but if you must be picky... Ranma 1/2 and all related concepts and characters are the property of the wondrous and God-like Rumiko Takahashi-sama. The concept of the Nightworld, Circle Daybreak, and Soulmate principle all belong to the fabulous writer Lisa J. Smith a.k.a. L. J. Smith.  
  
For those who are oblivious, I will give you the meaning of the soulmate principle and several Japanese words, which I will be using. Look below:  
  
Soulmate Principle: this is the idea that there is one and only one person to whom your very soul is connected. The symptoms of this increasingly common occurance are being shot into some one else's mind at skin contact and a fuzzy pink haze. All in all, very disorienting.  
  
Baka: idiot.  
  
Otousan / Tousan: Father / Dad.  
  
Okaasan / Kaasan: Mother / Mom  
  
Oneesan / Neesan: Older Sister  
  
Imotochan: Little sister.  
  
Gomen-ne / Gomen: Forgive me or sorry.  
  
Arigatou: Thank you.  
  
Daijobu: You okay?  
  
Kuso / Chikuso: Shit or maybe Crap. I know it's one of the two.  
  
Obaasan: Grandmother.  
  
And now to my fanfic! Please don't hate me for such a long AN...  
  
  
When Night Falls  
  
  
  
  
"Here, Father. This was in the mail for you," Kasumi said in her soft, melodious voice with a smile.  
  
"Thank you, Kasumi," came the reply of her father, sitting in the center of the dojo. Accepting the letters, he browsed through them, like he had every stack of mail he had since two years prior, looking for the one letter that would change his daughters' lives. Quietly Kasumi exited with one last glance at her father before she disappeared around the doorway.  
  
Bill. Bill. Bill. Letter from the Elders. Bill. Postcard from Genma. Bill...Wait. Looking back Soun discovered that his eyes had not been fooling him. Looking over the postcard he grew more excited with every word. 'Bringing Ranma back from China. Genma.'  
  
"Finally! Ranma's coming here! Now we can fulfill the Tendo / Saotome destiny," he whispered reverantly. "Kasumi! Get Nabiki and Akane! I have something I must tell you all!"  
  
"Yes, Father," came Kasumi's feather light answer.  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
An annoyed growl reverberated deep in the throat of a young girl. This was because of the large Panda trailing behind her.  
  
Finally fed up, she jumped in the air and hurled the backpack she was hauling around as hard as she could at the Panda accompanied with a cry of, "Yo! Cut that," a brief pause as she dodged a series of strikes from the panda, "OUT!" She finished, emphasized by a flying sidekick that sent the Panda reeling.  
  
Quickly recovering, it goes, once again, on the offensive. Dodging the vicious strikes of the apparently rabid Panda, she seethes angrily until finally she snaps, "How dare you pick my fiancée for me! And without even," catching the paw of the beast, she shifts her weight to throw it, "ASKING!" With the sudden outburst, she throws it crashing into the nearest wall.  
  
As the Panda flies back, the girl calls balefully over her shoulder, "I'm going back to China now. So suck on THAT old man!" Then she turned and started stalking angrily away.  
  
Regrettably, had she turned her head back for one last glance, she would have seen the Panda rear up on it's hind legs and snap a 'STOP' sign from the pavement. Since this was obviously unnoticed by the girl, she also wasn't prepared for being whacked on the back of the head with it. So she, understandably, fell into unconsciousness.  
  
Before she hit the ground, though, the Panda grabbed her by the waist and slung her over its shoulder.  
  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
"WHAT?!" exploded from the youngest Tendo daughter, Akane. "YOU PICKED MY FIANCÉ FOR ME?! WITHOUT EVEN ASKING?!"  
  
"She is right, father. It's not polite to go around engaging people without their knowing of it," Kasumi's soft voice cut in, clear as a bell.  
  
"But you know of it now, don't you?" Soun inquired.  
  
"Yes, Daddy. But normally you tell them when you make the deal. Not sixteen years later," Nabiki said, voice coldly emotionless.  
  
"I forgot...?" he answered weakly, more a question than a statement.  
  
"Oh, Daddy, please do dazzle me more with your incredible wit," snapped Nabiki. Soun shrunk back, feeling desperately insignificant.  
  
Before it could escalate into an all out battle of WITS VS. WITLESSNESS, the doorbell sounded and brought everyone to attention.  
  
"That must be Ranma. I'll go get the door," chimed Kasumi. Graceful as a dancer, she stood and practically floated to the door.  
  
Patiently awaiting his best friend's arrival, the Tendo patriarch remained sitting, watching the changes on his daughters' faces. Akane, irritable as ever, was wearing a rather nasty scowl while Nabiki's entire countenance was that of cold disinterest.  
  
Kasumi's barely audible footsteps reached their ears and Soun anxiously got to his feet, awaiting the joyous reunion with Genma and his son. As Kasumi glided in uncharacteristically fast with a greatly dismayed expression on her beautiful face Tendo-san began to worry that something had gone wrong.  
  
As the Giant Panda with a redhead slung over it's back came in, he was proven correct.  
  
"PUT ME DOWN!!! POPS, I TOLD YOU TO PUT ME DOWN!" The redhead screeched, all the while pounding violently on the panda's back.  
  
The Tendos watched in astonishment as the panda finally complied with the redhead's demands and set her down.  
  
Hesitantly, Soun stepped forward and began, "You wouldn't be..."  
  
"Saotome Ranma," she concluded sullenly. Keeping her gaze down as if in shame, she twiddled her thumbs behind her back.  
  
In a sudden burst of motion, Tendo-san swept the girl up in a hug, crying out, "Finally! You're..." he trailed off abruptly as he noticed that there were two... well, you know whats pressed against him. Pushing the girl back he looked down from her face to her chest area. Not surprisingly, her overly large chest stuck out in a way no man's would.  
  
Mouth agape, Tendo-san let go of her shoulders and promptly fainted from shock.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
That's it so far on this part of the story. Believe me, it will get much more interesting as things go on. When I finish posting this up on FF.N I will already be working on the next chapter, which will hopefully be a bit longer.  
  
I beg of you to review and make me a happy little bunny! ^_^ 'til next time! 


	2. Chapter 2 ^_^

Disclaimer: Obviously I own none of Ranma 1/2 , but if you must be picky... Ranma 1/2 and all related concepts and characters are the property of the wondrous and God-like Rumiko Takahashi-sama. The concept of the Nightworld, Circle Daybreak, and Soulmate principle all belong to the fabulous writer Lisa J. Smith a.k.a. L. J. Smith.  
  
For those who are oblivious, I will give you the meaning of the soulmate principle and several Japanese words, which I will be using. Look below:  
  
Soulmate Principle: this is the idea that there is one and only one person to whom your very soul is connected. The symptoms of this increasingly common occurance are being shot into some one else's mind at skin contact and a fuzzy pink haze. All in all, very disorienting.  
  
Baka: idiot.  
  
Otousan / Tousan: Father / Dad.  
  
Okaasan / Kaasan: Mother / Mom  
  
Oneesan / Neesan: Older Sister  
  
Imotochan: Little sister.  
  
Gomen-ne / Gomen: Forgive me or sorry.  
  
Arigatou: Thank you.  
  
Daijobu: You okay?  
  
Kuso / Chikuso: Shit or maybe Crap. I know it's one of the two.  
  
Obaasan: Grandmother.  
  
Sorry for the waste of cyber space, but I'm only gonna post it on the first 3 Chapters. And I was true to my word, I did start this chapter right when I finished the last one. ^_^ Slight warning: Tendo-san and several others act somewhat OOC. *wince* Don't hate me! Oh, and from here on in, things not only get more interesting, but also OOC on a major scale. This is because it's pretty much an alt. fic, but still has at least some of the original plot.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lying on a tatami mat on the floor was Soun Tendo's unconscious form. He was surrounded by his daughters, Ranma, and the Panda, none of whom were wearing concerned expressions with the exception of the girl, Ranma.  
  
"Shouldn't you guys be worried? I mean, he looks like he practically had a heart attack..." she was asking.  
  
The youngest sister, Akane, answered casually, "Not really. He does this a lot when he gets emotional." She leaned in close to whisper in her ear, "I think it's because when Okaasan died, he almost died from his sadness, and since then he's been unable to withstand strong emotions."  
  
Compassion glowed strongly in the other girl's eyes and rang clearly in her voice, "I think I understand. Once, I lost a very dear friend of mine and cried myself to sleep for months. I never really made any friends when I was training, and I valued the ones I had," sadness and a certain wistfulness joined the compassion in her eyes and voice as she whispered more to herself now then to the girl. "My father didn't care of course. It was always training, training, training. Not that I didn't benefit from it, but I wish I'd had more time to be a kid. I feel now like my time has come and past."  
  
Understanding crossed Akane's face as she listened to her guest's story. Placing a gentle hand upon her shoulder, Akane replied, "Being a kid is about having fun and for at least a moment, completely without care. There is no past to being a child, and no way to ever stop being young. We may mature in body and mind, but we are always children at heart." Looking startled at this unexpected wisdom, Ranma looked up from her lap and met the other girl's eyes. Akane could now see a single tear crawl its way to her chin to plop uselessly on the floor.  
  
"Thank you." A moan from the tatami mat brought them back to the present as they glanced at Soun's fluttering eyelashes.  
  
Fully opening his eyes, Tendo-san stared uncomprehendingly at the ceiling for a few moments, then bolted upright as the grogginess faded. He glanced around at the faces surrounding him and locked in on Ranma's with an unreadable expression.  
  
"What on Earth happened?!" He demanded loudly of Ranma. "Genma told me he had a son and instead I end up with YOU! A girl! How on Earth are we to fulfill the agreement if you're a FEMALE?!"  
  
She shrunk back from Soun's outburst and shame glittered through her eyes. Akane, touched by the shear sadness and vulnerability in her eyes, took a stand before her father. "Otousan! Enough! It's not her fault she's a female, nor is it her fault that her father lied to you! She comes in to our home as a guest after years of training, and what do you do?! You YELL at her! You blame her for things that are not her fault and you show no respect for her hardships! If this is the type of person you truly are, then I have cause to wonder what Mother ever saw in you," she hissed. Immediately after the words left her mouth she realized her mistake in mentioning her mother as something shattered in his eyes and left a deep pain evident in his eyes and entire countenance.  
  
Turning away from her father and shoving aside her regret, she grabbed Ranma's sleeve and dragged the girl behind her to the dojo. Once there she stopped in the middle and let go of her sleeve.  
  
Ranma looked to be in a state of shock and just stared at Akane's back. Finally gathering her wits, she began hesitantly, "Thank you... for sticking up for me, I mean. No one's ever done that for me." Turning around to face her, Akane looked up and met her eyes. Gleaming tear tracks ran down her cheeks and disappeared at her chin and her eyes were red rimmed and glassy. Looking down, Ranma took a step towards the crying girl and whispered softly, "I'm sorry."  
  
A moment of uneasy silence stretched for what seemed like eternity before Akane scrubbed angrily at her eyes and inquired, "You do Anything Goes, right? And you know how to fight?"  
  
Apparently relieved for the break in the silence, Ranma replied with an affirmative and said, "I don't like hitting girls, though. I was brought up to think they were weak and useless.  
  
Akane sighed, "Well we're not. Besides, if you don't want to, you don't have to hit me hard." There was another, shorter silence as Ranma thought it over and gave an affirmative and a grin.  
  
Akane grinned in turn and quoted the terms of the match, "There are no restrictions in fighting technique nor are there any moves that are not allowed. The only requirement is that you use no weapons other than hands and feet. Ready?" a nod, "Then lets fight!"  
  
Opening up with a vicious spinning crescent that Ranma barely avoids, Akane follows up with a lightning fast sidekick that knocks Ranma back a foot or two. Recovering unexpectedly fast, Ranma goes on the offensive, going for a roundhouse to the stomach that hardly grazes Akane's stomach followed by a spinning crescent flowing smoothly into a hook kick smacking Akane on the shoulder with a 'SMACK'. Their fight continued like that, both switching from offensive to defensive, neither gaining an advantage.  
  
Finally the bout ends when Ranma sees an opening and stuns her with a full out roundhouse to the solar plexus. Now lying on the ground, Akane comes back to her wits and pushes herself back up, panting just as hard as Ranma. Grinning, Akane spoke, "That was a good match. No one's ever given me such a run for my money before. Congrats," She said offering her hand. 


End file.
